Strip shingle and method of making the same



March 29, 1932. B. cv BECKMAN STRIP SHINGLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed March 25. 1924 March 29, 1932.

B. c. BECKMAN- STRIP SHINGLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Original Filed March 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 29, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BERNARD C. 'BEGKMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO THE PATENT AND LICENSING CORPORATION,

CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A

STRIP SHINGLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Continuation of application Serial No. 701,638, filed March 25, 1924, and in Canada May 19, 1924. This application filed May 28, 1930. Serial No. 456,790.

This application is a continuation of my copending application Serial No. 701,638, filed March 25, 1924, The invention relates to roofing, more especially of that type comprising a fibrous sheet base saturated and coated with waterproofing material, such as asphalt, and suitably surfaced. Heretofore it has been proposed to cut such material into strips, each havin'g"'shingle simulatingtabs along one edge defined by narrow slots or cut-outs extending inwardly from this edge. These strip shingles have been of substantially uniform thickness throughout. It is quite desirable, however, that shingle simulating roofing elements designed to be laid in overlapping courses be formed tapering in thickness, being relatively thickat their lower butt ends and thin at their upper ends. This materially facilitates laying of the elements, permitting them to lie flatter against the roof and each other than-is possible when the material is of uniform thickness throughout. It

also improves the appearance of the completed roof, the thickened butt ends giving a substantial appearance in marked -contrast to the flat thin unsubstantial appearance presented when the units are of substantially uniform thickness.

This invention relates to strip shingles tapering in thickness being relatively thin along their upper edges and presenting thickened butt edges at the shingle simulating tabs.

It also relates to methods of making such strip shingles.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective of a strip shingle tapering in thickness.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a form of roofing machine designed to produce the tapered strip shingle.

Figure 3 is atop plan of the same.

Figures 4 and 5 are detail sect-ions on lines 4-4 and 55, respectively, of Figure 2;

Figures 6 and 7 are detail sections on lines 66 and 7-7, respectively, of Figure 3.

Figure 8 is an elevation of a modified construction of taper forming roller.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary plan of a sheet of roofing showing a manner of cutting when the roller of Figure 8 is used.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary cross section showing another method of forming the taper.

Figure 11 is a perspective of a sheet formed by the use of the method of Figure 10 and showing the method of cutting.

F-igure 12 is a side elevation thereof.

' Figures 13 and 14 are views similar to Figures 10 and 11 but illustrating a further modification.

The strip shingle which it is desired to make is shown in Figure 1 and comprises a body portion 1 having a relativelyihin upper edge 2 and a relatively thick lower edge 3. Extending inwardly from the edge 3 are a series of spaced cut-outs or slots 4 to define a series of shingle simulating tabs 5. As ordinarily formed each strip shingle includes four such tabs though, of course, a greater or a lesser number might be made. At each end the shingle is formed with a notch 6 of one-half the width of the cut-out 4 so that when a pair of shingle strips are laid in end to end relation spaces are, produced between the adjacent shingle simulating tabs of the two strips of substantially'equal width to the slots or cut-outs 4. In the manufacture of such shingles a web to of sheet material usually rag felt or of such materials as waste paper, wood pulp, rag fiber, asbestos, hair or the like, formed on a paper machine, is led from a roll 10 (see Figure 2) or directly from the paper machine, as may be most convenient, over a guide roller 11 and down into a tank 14 containing a hot saturating'compound, such as a low melting point asphalt, so that the web may be saturated with this material as it passes therethrough. After being saturated the web passes between feed rollers 12 in a substantially horizontal position and beneath a spout 13 through which high melting point asphalt, such as blown asphalt,may be supplied thereto to form a coating on the upper face thereof. The as phalt is supplied to the nozzle 13 by any suitable supply tank 25. By the time the asphalt coating has passed between the rollers 19 and 20 it should be sufiiciently solidified so that it volume at certain portions laterally of the width of the web than at other portions. While this coating asphalt is plastic it is passed between the pressure rollers 19 and 20. As shown in Figure 4 the lower roller 20 is substantially cylindrical while the upper roller 19 is formed tapering, having portions 21 of larger diameter and portions 22 intermediate the portions 21 of smaller diameter.

The portions 22 of smaller diameter may be I in substantial alinement lengthwise of the web with the wider portions 15 of the nozzle 13. Due to this form of the upper roller, the

. ing asphalt.

coating asphalt is molded into a surface coating for the web in zones lengthwise of the web 10 of variable thickness widthwise thereof, the thicker portions being formed by the smaller diameter portions 22 of the roller 19 and the thinner portions being formed by the portions 21 of larger diameter.

The web then passes beneath a slating device shown at 26 by which a surfacing of fireresisting granular material such as crushed slate is supplied to the upper face of the coat- The web then passes between pressure rollers 27 and 28, the roller 27 being formed similarly to the roller 1950 that I the slate is rolled into the somewhat plastic surface material to adhere thereto. The web pgsses partially around the roller 28 so as to come inverted, the coated surface being lowermost, whereupon any granular material which has not adhered to the coat-ing may fall into the receptacle 30. The web then passes about the guide rollers 31 and 32 to any suitable cooling mechanism 33 herein shown conventionally as the usual looping mechanism. In this mechanism the web is thoroughly cooled so that the coating asphalt becomes set.

It then passes between the feed rollers 34 and 35 to the cutting mechanism. As shown best in Figure 6 an upper roller is provided with a series of laterally disposed cutting blades 41 spaced in pairs to cut the sides of the slots 4 of the strip shingles, these slots extending across the portions of the web where the coating is thickest. Cooperating with the upper roller 40 is a lower roller 42 having cutting blocks 43 therein complemental to the cutters 41.

The web then passes beneath a slitting roller 45 which has a series of circular slitting knives 46 (see Figure 3) and spaced midway of the blades 41 and cutting substantially would be arranged substantial Figure 9, the slots terminating along the lonalong the thickest portions ofthe coatin asphalt. It also has similar knives 47 space to cut alongthe thinnest portions, Between the knives 46 and 47' are segmental blades 48 formed to cut across the ends of adjacent parallel cuts made by the cutters 41 to comlete the formation of the cut-outs or slots etween the shingle simulating tabs. Below the roller 46 is a complemental roller 49. The web is thus cut into continuous strips, each havin one edge thicker than the other and the thicker edges having extending inwardly therefrom cut-outs as shown at 4 in Figure 1. The web next passes to a chopping mechanism '50 which cuts off the strips centrally through certain of the cut-outs into the proper lengths to form the strip shingles.

In place of forming the coating in zones of variable thickness the thicker andv thinner edges of adjacent zones being adjacent to each other, the asphalt may be formed into zones of tapered thickness facing in the same direction. This may be done by using rollers of the form shown in Figure 8 at 60, these rollers each comprising truncated cone sections 61 having the lar er end of one positioned adjacent the sma ler end of the next. This form is somewhat preferable to that first described in that all the strip shin les are cut facing in the same direction ont e sheet so that the present a uniform color appearance when lald on the roof, it having been found in practice that when surfaced as above described a somewhat different appearance is produced when the material is viewed from different angles relative to the direction of progress of the material between the pressure rollers.

Where the roller of the form shown in Figure 8 isemployed the cutting of the slots y as shown in gitudinal cutting lines 65, these cutting lines I being positioned at the junction between the thick and thin portions of adjacent tapered zones, so that the cut-outs extend only in the thicker portions.

The tapering zones formed by both the methods hereinbefore described extend longitudinally of the web. They may, however, be made to extend laterally, if desired, Figures 10 to 13 showing such a method.

Referring to Figure 10 the coating asphalt is applied through a nozzle 70 directly in the rear of the rollers 71 and 72. The'roller 72 is cylindrical, but the roller 71 is flattened or ellipsoidal in cross section having a major axis along the dotted line 73 and a minor axis along the line 74. This roller is of such a size that one fourth of its circumference is equal to the width of the tapered zones desired which, of course, is equal to the width of the strip shingle. When the minor axis 74 is presented toward the web w, the asphalt is deposited in a relatively thick layer since the circumference of the roller at this point is furthest removed from the circumference-of the'roller 72. But when the major axis 73 extends toward the web less space is permitted between the surfaces of the roller 72 and 71 and the coating is Consequently thinner. The cutting mechanism is then arranged to cut the web transversely along the lines of greatest and least thicknesses as at 75 and 76, respectively. in Figure 11, while the cutouts are formed across the lines 75 as shown at 77. In this construction it is also necessary to reverse alternate strips end for end when laid, but this can be avoided by the use of a forming roller such as illustrated in Figure 13 at 80. This roller comprises segmental portions of gradually increasing diameters from the line 81 to the line 82, there being abrupt shoulders formed between these lines. The length of the circumference from one line 81 to a succeeding line 82 is the width of the strip shingle to be formed, the coating formed by this roller, as illustrated in Figure 14, having abrupt thick edges 83 and a thin edge 84 adjacent thereto. The cilt-outs 85 are formed in the thicker portions only and the shingles are cut apart at the thin edges 84 so that all face in the same direction on the sheet.

It is of course evident that where forming rollers of the types shown are employed, it will be desirable if not necessary to use correspondingly shaped rollers for feeding the web wherever it is necessary to engage its coated side and that where the strips are formed crosswise of the sheet it will be necessary to drive these feeding rollers in synchronature.

BERNARD BECKMAN.

nism with the forming rollers so that their smaller and larger diameter portions may engage the thicker and thinner portions formed in the coating.

While as shown the asphalt coating tapering in thickness is applied to the upper face of the web, it might, of course, be applied to the lower face if desired, the apparatus being 45 modified accordingly.

Having thus described certain embodiments of this invention it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made therein without departing from its spirit or scope as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

The method of forming thick butt strip shingles, which comprises applying to a face of a sheet of saturated felt a coating of waterproofing ing sai coating in ridges and valleys exten ing continuously in the direction of the length of the sheet, permitting theshaped coating 69 to harden, cutting slits and slots in said sheet with reference to said ridges and valleys,

the slits being continuous and extending longitudinally along the lines of maximum an minimum thickness of said coating, the 85 slots being transverse of and arranged in material in plastic condition, shag- 1 

